TCM Schedule for Friday, June 24, 2022 -- What's On Tonight: Star of the Month - Judy Garland

[Staph]

In the daylight hours, we get a morning of films about Sibling Sacrifices and an afternoon of films starring Judy Garland, with her best buddy Mickey Rooney. Then in prime time, TCM finishes the celebration of Star of the Month, Judy Garland, in the month of her hundredth birthday. Enjoy!


6:00 AM -- Unashamed (1932)
1h 16m | Drama | TV-G
A society girl's brother goes on trial for killing her lover.
Director: Harry Beaumont
Cast: Helen Twelvetrees, Robert Young, Lewis Stone

Original screenplay by Bayard Veillor.


7:30 AM -- Bad Guy (1937)
1h 9m | Drama | TV-G
A man convinces his brother to bust him out of prison.
Director: Edward Cahn
Cast: Bruce Cabot, Virginia Grey, Edward Norris

From a story by J. Robert Bren.


8:45 AM -- Alias the Doctor (1932)
1h 9m | Drama | TV-G
Brothers with different work ethics clash while attending medical school.
Director: Michael Curtiz
Cast: Richard Barthelmess, Marian Marsh, Norman Foster

In the original script, Stephan performs an unspecified operation on his girlfriend. Censors at the Hayes Office objected, feeling that audiences would presume the procedure was an abortion. So, the script was changed to have Stephan drunkenly assault her in an argument over money and then try to save her from her injuries.


10:00 AM -- Dance, Fools, Dance (1931)
1h 21m | Drama | TV-G
A brother and sister risk their lives to expose the gangsters who ruined their family.
Director: Harry Beaumont
Cast: Joan Crawford, Lester Vail, Cliff Richards

Before this movie Joan Crawford told people not to have affairs with their leading men until they made three movies together. She and Clark Gable had only made two together, but they started to have an affair during this movie. Afterwards Crawford said she had to eat her words, but that they tasted sweet.


11:30 AM -- Mr. Skeffington (1945)
2h 7m | Drama | TV-G
A flighty beauty marries a stockbroker for convenience and almost ruins both their lives.
Director: Vincent Sherman
Cast: Bette Davis, Claude Rains, Walter Abel

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Bette Davis, and Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Claude Rains

At the time, most Warner Brothers "A" features had a 30-day shooting schedule. This film took 110 days. When Jack L. Warner sent (Julius J. Epstein and Philip G. Epstein) a note inquiring why the picture was behind schedule, their tersely humorous reply was, "Bette Davis is a slow director."


2:00 PM -- Jailhouse Rock (1957)
1h 36m | Musical | TV-G
After learning to play the guitar in prison, a young man becomes a rock 'n' roll sensation.
Director: Richard Thorpe
Cast: Elvis Presley, Judy Tyler, Mickey Shaughnessy

Originally choreographer Alex Romero created a dance for the song "Jailhouse Rock" that was in a style more apropos for a classically trained dancer than Elvis Presley. When Romero realized that his plans for the number were never going to work, he asked Presley how would he normally move to the song, leading Elvis to become the uncredited choreographer for what many consider his most famous dance number in all of his movies.


4:00 PM -- Gay Purr-ee (1962)
1h 26m | Musical | TV-G
Animated musical in which a French country cat becomes entranced with Parisian city life.
Director: Abe Levitow
Cast: Judy Garland, Robert Goulet, Red Buttons

When Judy Garland was approached about doing this film, it was she who reportedly suggested that her two good friends (and The Wizard of Oz (1939) collaborators) Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg provide the music and lyrics, respectively. It was to be both men's last full-length score for any medium.


5:30 PM -- Till the Clouds Roll By (1946)
2h | Musical | TV-G
True story of composer Jerome Kern's rise to the top on Broadway and in Hollywood.
Director: Richard Whorf
Cast: June Allyson, Lucille Bremer, Judy Garland

Judy Garland, who played real-life singer-dancer Marilyn Miller, was pregnant with her first daughter, Liza Minnelli. She was placed behind stacks of dishes while singing "Look For the Silver Lining", but it was not to "hide her belly" as some have thought, because moments before her number, she is shown walking over to the set and even during her song as she is standing behind the dishes, her abdomen is not disguised.



WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: PRIMETIME THEME -- STAR OF THE MONTH JUDY GARLAND



8:00 PM -- A Star Is Born (1954)
2h 56m | Musical | TV-PG
A falling star marries the newcomer he's helping reach the top.
Director: George Cukor
Cast: Judy Garland, James Mason, Jack Carson

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- James Mason, Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Judy Garland (Judy Garland couldn't attend the ceremony because she was giving birth to her third child and only son, Joey Luft. Even though she did not win the Academy Award she always stated that Joey was the best "Academy Award" she ever received that night.), Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color -- Malcolm C. Bert, Gene Allen, Irene Sharaff and George James Hopkins, Best Costume Design, Color -- Jean Louis, Mary Ann Nyberg and Irene Sharaff, Best Music, Original Song -- Harold Arlen (music) and Ira Gershwin (lyrics) for the song "The Man that Got Away", and Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture -- Ray Heindorf

Each of the three musical versions of this story was nominated for a Best Original Song Oscar: "The Man that Got Away" (music by Harold Arlen and lyrics by Ira Gershwin) for this movie, "Evergreen" (music by Barbra Streisand and lyrics by Paul Williams) for A Star Is Born (1976), and "Shallow" (written by Anthony Rossomando, Lady Gaga, Andrew Wyatt and Mark Ronson) for A Star Is Born (2018). "Evergreen" and "Shallow" won the award.


11:15 PM -- A Child Is Waiting (1962)
1h 42m | Drama | TV-PG
An emotionally fragile woman takes a job teaching mentally handicapped children.
Director: John Cassavetes
Cast: Burt Lancaster, Judy Garland, Gena Rowlands

Director John Cassavetes and Producer Stanley Kramer had many creative / economic differences and during the editing phase, Cassavetes was fired.


1:15 AM -- I Could Go On Singing (1963)
1h 39m | Musical | TV-G
An American singing star in London tries to reclaim the son she gave up for adoption.
Director: Ronald Neame
Cast: Judy Garland, Dirk Bogarde, Jack Klugman

Originally, Judy Garland had recorded the tender ballad "It Never Was You" (music by Kurt Weill, lyrics by Maxwell Anderson) with full orchestral backing arranged and conducted by Mort Lindsey. When filming on a mock-up of the London Palladium stage, Miss Garland chose to sing live on the set, accompanied by just pianist Dave Lee. Capitol Records, in 2006, released her initial version on a CD collection called "The Essential Judy Garland". Her rendition used in this movie has been brought back on the CD soundtrack from the Collectables label.


3:00 AM -- Rock 'N' Roll High School (1979)
1h 33m | Musical | TV-14
A high-school hellcat will stop at nothing to meet her favorite band-The Ramones.
Director: Allan Arkush
Cast: P.J. Soles, Vince Van Patten, Clint Howard

Originally, Todd Rundgren was to star as the musical act, but both sides could not come to an agreement. Next, Cheap Trick was contacted, but a similar situation happened. After that, talks were conducted with Warner Bros. Records, where Allan Arkush had a connection, to decide on which band they should use in the film. The first suggestion was Devo, but Arkush decided that they had too much of their own concept. Another band considered for the movie was Van Halen, but Warner execs warned Arkush that they were raucous and would be difficult to handle. Finally, an exec name-dropped the Ramones, who recorded for Sire Records, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Records. Arkush, being a huge fan of the band, agreed. To this day, Rundgren regrets passing up the role he was offered.


4:30 AM -- Eating Raoul (1982)
1h 23m | Comedy | TV-MA
A Los Angeles couple discover a bizarre way to fund their new restaurant.
Director: Paul Bartel
Cast: Mary Woronov, Paul Bartel, Robert Beltran

The budget was so low they could not afford to mock-up an ad printed in a fake newspaper for the Blands' swingers advertisement, so production designer Robert Schulenberg instead designed an ad and ran it in the "L.A. Weekly", an alternative newspaper. Unlike the vast number of replies the Blands got in the movie, the real ad attracted only one response.

[BigmanPigman]

1. The Ramones were a better choice than both Rundgren and Cheap Trick.

I love all three but for this film and this time the Ramones pulled it off. I saw them perform live after they showed the film at a small theater in Phila and I can't imagine Todd getting the same feedback from the audience. Cheap Trick would have been better than Todd too.

[Auggie]

2. Never, ever thought I'd see Eating Raoul on TCM

I've probably seen this 20-25 times. Still wickedly funny after 40 years.